FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a refrigerator equipped with a related art display mounting structure for a refrigerator, and FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the related art display mounting structure for a refrigerator.
As shown in the figures, a storage space (not shown) is provided in a main body 10 of a refrigerator. Further, a pair of doors 11 and 13 for selectively opening and/or closing the storage space are pivotally installed at both ends of the refrigerator body 10, respectively, such that one lateral end of each door can be moved with respect to the other lateral end of the relevant door.
The right door 11 of FIG. 7 is provided with a display 15 and a dispenser 19. The display 15 receives various operation signals for the refrigerator and displays a variety of operating information for the refrigerator. Further, the dispenser 19 is used to allow a user to take water or ice out of the refrigerator without opening the doors 11 and 13.
In addition, the left door 13 of FIG. 7 is provided with a home bar 17. The home bar 17 is used for allowing a user to take foods in or out of the refrigerator without opening the doors 11 and 13 and is selectively opened or closed by means of a home bar door 18.
Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 8, a display accommodating portion 11A is provided at a specific position on a front surface of the door 11. The display accommodating portion 11A is formed by depressing a portion of the front surface of the door 11 in a rear direction. The display 15 includes a printed circuit board (PCB) 15A provided with a variety of electric elements thereon, and a display cover 15B defining a front surface thereof. Further, the display 15 receives operating signals in touch screen mode. In addition, the display accommodating portion 11A is covered with an outer cover member 11B defining a front external appearance of the door 11 in a state where the display 15 is accommodated therein.
Now, a process of assembling a related art refrigerator door will be discussed. In a state where the door 11 is first assembled, the display 15 is accommodated in the display accommodating portion 11A. At this time, the display 15 is assembled in such a manner that the PCB 15A and the display cover 15B of the display 15 are sequentially accommodated into the display accommodating portion 11A.
However, the related art display mounting structure for a refrigerator has the following problems.
As described above, the display 15 is assembled in such a manner that the PCB 15A and the display cover 15B are mounted to the display accommodating portion 11A. Therefore, there is a problem in that high possibility of errors occurring while assembling and installing the display 15 in the display accommodating portion 11A leads to an increase in percentage defective of products.
In addition, since the display 15 is assembled in the process of manufacturing a refrigerator as described above, the overall process of manufacturing a refrigerator is complicated, and a process of assembling a refrigerator cannot be progressed due to the failure of the display 15. Thus, it is likely that manufacturing costs of refrigerators may be substantially increased due to the man-hour increase and the assembling process delay.
Moreover, in a case where any failure occurs in respective parts, particularly in the PCB 15A, of the display 15, the display cover 15B should be first separated from the display accommodating portion 11A. Therefore, there is another problem in that it is convenient to repair or exchange the display 15.